Without any family background, I enrolled at the Geisenheim University of Viticulture on the Rhine 15 years ago. I soon realized that organic cultivation was the only way for me to bring the highest quality and purity into the bottle." This is how 35-year-old winemaker Holger Hagen, who grew up in Munich and on the Fraueninsel in Chiemsee, describes his career. Almost ten years ago, he set up his winery in southern Styria: "I was one of the first to show that organic viticulture works here." The winery cultivates vines in the Eckberg, Sernauberg and Hochgrassnitzberg vineyards - but not only there. There is no natural border separating the growing areas of southern Styria and Stajerska in Slovenia. The well-known Hochgrassnitzberg vineyard, where Holger Hagen can call two hectares of vines his own, is only separated from Slovenia by a road. Inspired by the great potential of some Slovenian vineyards, he is also active here. The young producer has found an unusual definition for his creative space: "I don't want to focus my activities on one of the classic growing regions, but rather define the landscape in which we grow our grapes as a natural space: the Alpine ridge rises in the northwest, the hilly landscape flows into the Pannonian steppe plain in the east and the Adriatic coastal region extends to the south. The combination of different climates is an important factor in the uniqueness of our wines." A "Bavarian in exile" thus makes an exciting contribution to European wine culture with his multifaceted range of wines.
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